Optus

Financial Context

Estimate uses avg AU employment cost of $110,000+/yr (incl. super and on-costs) vs offshore $25,000/yr (salary + on-costs). Actual figures vary by role, seniority, and location.

In Plain English

• In 2025, Optus was reported to have 4,000+ offshore contractors and staff.
• This represents ~57.1% when compared to its current workforce of 7,000 (illustrative comparison only — not directly reported by the company).
• 🇮🇳 4,000+ staff reported in India in Call Centre.
• Known outsourcing partners include Tech Mahindra, Concentrix.
• 1,920 Australian jobs have been cut.

Based on data from public sources at the dates reported. Figures may not reflect current headcount. See sources below for full attribution.

The Story

• 2026Optus cut another 200 jobs following the data breach and network outage, continuing a decade-long pattern. The company has cut over 4,000 Australian jobs since 2012 while maintaining approximately 4,000 offshore staff in India and the Philippines. [AFR]
• February 2026 — RESHORINGOptus announced it will expand headcount from approximately 6,800 to 7,500 over the next 12 months, driven in large part by insourcing call-centre work currently performed in Chennai. Nokia operates roughly 3,000 staff at the Chennai centre on behalf of Optus; ~300 of those Optus-handling roles will return to Australia, with 100 already moved. Network management is to be brought back in-house from Nokia by May 2027. CEO Stephen Rue: "This has to be obviously done carefully ... you've got to train people onshore, you've got to have your systems in place." [iTnews]
• February 2026Optus announced 200–300 role cuts after September 2025 Triple Zero outage. Separately, the company added 450 staff to its Australian call-centre operations focused on Triple Zero and vulnerable customers. Net headcount still set to grow by ~700 over 12 months. [iTnews]
• November 2023A nationwide Optus outage lasting over 12 hours left 10 million customers without phone or internet. Triple Zero calls failed. An internal review found offshore call centre staff repeatedly failed to escalate warnings from customers about the outage. [ABC News]
• 2022Optus suffered Australia's second-largest data breach, exposing 9.8 million customers' personal data including passport and licence numbers. CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin resigned. The breach was linked to a coding error in an API endpoint. [ABC News]
• 2019Optus spent three years setting common standards across its offshore contact centre operations in India and the Philippines, with three BPO partners and collectively around 4,000 offshore staff handling Australian customer calls. [iTnews]
• 2014–2017Optus cut a further 2,000+ roles across consumer, enterprise, wholesale and sales divisions between 2014 and 2017. In October 2017, it outsourced network management to Nokia, making 170 staff redundant. [iTnews]
• 2016Optus outsourced HR and finance operations offshore. The company had been steadily moving back-office functions to lower-cost locations while cutting Australian headcount. [iTnews]
• 2012Optus cut 750 jobs after an internal review, with sources reporting over 1,000 could ultimately go. Part of a long-running pattern of workforce reductions. [iTnews]

All facts sourced from public reporting. No editorial commentary. Click source links to verify.